Jewel thieves made off with $53 Million in diamonds and other precious gems in an audacious daylight heist in of the French Riviera’s swankiest hotels.

Officials at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes are not commenting, nor is the reported owner of the stones, Israeli billionaire jeweler Lev Leviev who was holding an exhibition at the hotel. 

The jewels were supposed to be on display until August.  But local media reported that a gunman came in and stuffed the gems into a suitcase before making a swift exit.

It’s worth noting that last week, a member of the notorious “Pink Panther” jewel thief gang escaped from a Swiss prison after accomplices rammed a gate and overpowered guards with bursts from their AK-47s.

The Carlton Hotel is where Alfred Hitchcock shot 1955’s, “To Catch A Thief”, his film about a jewel thief operating in the French Riviera.